Source: UNT Digital Archive

"The Vampire" is a photoplay composition by Sol P. Levy (1881-1920) published in 1917. Today it sounds more akin to a theme for a mobster saga than a bat-centric horror fest, but the theme is alluring nonetheless. And, as it turns out, it probably was not intended to be used for a horror film.

Most film buffs reference "Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens" (“Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror”) as the first vampire film. Murnauʼs expressionist classic may well be the first vampire horror film, but it was released in 1922, five years after the publication of this composition.

The most likely explanation is that Levyʼs composition finds its origin not in the Transylvanian mountains, but in a poem by Rudyard Kipling, written to accompany a painting by Philip Burne-Jones named “the Vampire.” The painting depicts a femme fatale and her victim—itʼs suggestive, but thereʼs nothing supernatural about it. Kiplingʼs poem and Burne-Jonesʼ painting also inspired a theatrical play, and then in 1913 a silent film, "The Vampire." However, there is no direct link between this composition and the film—Levy’s composition is subtitled "A Dramatic Theme".

Available Formats: WAV ; MP3 ; MusicXML ; MIDI ; PDF ; Soundcloud

Produced by Martin R. Lucas

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